Dietetic Internship

General Information

As member of the health care team, the dietitian is directly responsible for the nutritional care of individuals and groups. This care includes the application of the science and art of human nutrition in helping people select and obtain food for the primary purpose of nourishing their bodies in health or disease throughout the life cycle. The dietitian’s intervention may be in food service systems management.

The Dietetic Internship program of the School of Health Professions is a post-baccalaureate program that prepares specialists in nutrition and dietetics. It is an eleven-month program providing learning opportunities geared to integrating previously acquired knowledge, obtain new knowledge, build resources for personal and professional growth, and develop skills in the best procedures for carrying out nutrition and dietetic services with emphasis in Medical Nutrition Therapy. It provides the student with opportunities to apply and integrate the scientific knowledge of nutrition and foods in the nutrition-medical treatment of individuals and groups.

Program’s Goals and Outcomes

The Dietetic Internship Program established goals that reflect the program’s mission and goals:

Prepare professionals in dietetics who will promote and maintain the best health conditions for the community, as members of the interdisciplinary team.

Provide supervised learning experiences geared to develop knowledge, skills, and attitudes in food service systems management and community dietetics, with emphasis in medical nutrition therapy.

Develop in the dietetic interns proper judgment, critical and creative thinking, problem solving skills, ethical values and human sensibility in selecting research based procedures and methods to carry out nutritional and dietetic services.

Provide opportunities for the development of self-confidence, self-direction, self-discipline and commitment with lifelong learning.

The DIP identified appropriate measures for ongoing assessment of each of the program’s goals. The qualitative and/or quantitative outcome data obtained from internal and external stakeholders is gathered and analyzed in a timely fashion. Some of the graduate performance measures include: program completion, graduate employment, RD pass rate, graduate satisfaction, participation in community services, research activities and commitment to lifelong learning. The complete list of outcome measures can be provided upon request.

Specifically, graduates of the program will be eligible to sit for the national certification examination for the registered dietitian and for the PR licensure exam. Outcome data demonstrate graduates have a high passage rate, at least 90%, on the PR licensure exam, passage of which is required to practice in Puerto Rico as a professional in nutrition and dietetics. The program pass rate of the RD exam is currently less than 80% for the first takers. The Internships graduates have a good success rate of obtaining.

Admission Requirements

All academic requirements must be completed not later than the end of the second semester of the academic year preceding admission, excluding the summer session of that year.

Bachelors degree from an accredited college or university, with courses that meet the academic requirement prescribed by the Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education the accrediting agency for the American Dietetic Association.

A general grade point average of 2.50 minimum and an area of specialization grade point average of 2.50 minimum are required. The calculation of the grade point averages must include academic years first semester grades.

The applicant must have complete proficiency of the Spanish language; and also knowledge and comprehension of the English language.

The following documents have to be submitted:

*Application form to the Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico:

One (1) sent to Dietetic Internship Program
School of Health Professions
Medical Sciences Campus
PO Box 365067
San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-5067

A catalog or Bulletin describing all the courses in Nutrition and Dietetics
must accompany the application form.

*Declaration of Intent to Complete Degree/DPD-Verification Statement and
the Academic Requirements of a dietetics didactic program.

All documents must be submitted in original.

An interview with the Student’s Selection Committee of the Dietetic Internship P.

All applicants to Dietetic Internships listed in the instruction booklet from D & D Digital Systems must participate in computer matching. Applicants should request instructions www.dnddigital.com. Applicants must register with the D & D online at www.dnddigital.com, pay the computer matching fee and enter the DI priority choices. The deadline for the February match is generally during the 2nd week of February.

Applicants are encouraged to process the application, the transcripts and the required documents prior to the last day of the first semester of the current academic year.

Program of Study

The Dietetic Internship Program, is an eleven (11) months program (45 weeks). It provides the dietetic intern with supervised practice experiences suitable for developing skills in the best procedures for carrying out nutrition and dietetic services.

Introductory Course (4 week)

RD Exam Practice Week (1 week)

Clinical Practice (40 weeks)

Medical Nutrition Therapy (20 weeks)

General (10 weeks)

Concentration (10 weeks)

Food Service System Management (10 weeks)

Community Dietetics (10 weeks)

Medical Nutrition Therapy concentration

The Dietetic Internship Program has scheduled a rotation of forty (40) weeks of practice experiences at various institutions within and outside the Puerto Rico Medical Center where the Program is located. The three areas of general practice are: Food Service Systems Management, Medical Nutrition Therapy, and Community Dietetics. A 10 weeks supervised learning experiences rotation for the Medical Nutrition Therapy concentration is also included.

An additional week dedicated to vacation, comprise the forty-five weeks rotation schedule of the Program.

Informative Sheet

Annual Expenses

Dietetic Interns expenses during the internship, for PR residents are estimated to be approximately $6,000.00 (Personal, traveling and housing expenses required for rotation sites outside metropolitan area are not included).

Graduation Requirements

In order to graduate, students must complete the Dietetic Internship Introductory Course and approve all clinical experiences as specified by the Program.

Complete the introductory course offered during the first four (4) weeks of the academic year.

Obtain a minimum of 70% in the final evaluation of each area of supervised practice, as established by the Program.

The DIP is designed to be completed in 11 months. In order to comply with the institutional policies and procedures, the DIP graduation requirements must be completed within the established maximum time limit 24 months.

The information provided is effective upon publication date. It is the students responsibility to be fully acquainted with the current admission requirements before submitting the application. Students admitted must meet all of the admission requirements before proceeding with registration.

Medical Sciences Campus Non-discriminatory Policy

The Medical Sciences Campus of the University of Puerto Rico is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate against any University employee or candidate because of sex, color, place of birth, age, physical or mental handicap, origin or social condition, political or religious beliefs.